With the boat brought to a condition that is nearly ready for passage making, we wanted to see some more of the State of Chiapas. A circle-trip by car up into the mountains was planned.
Long lost in the deep jungle terrain during the millennia between 900 - 1900, Chiapas has many Maya ruins. The vast majority of these ruins remain buried and overgrown. There is a “Raiders of the Lost Arc” vibe when visiting such ruins and who does not want some of that spirit in their lives? Minus the dinghy drops from airplanes, of course. There is such a thing as too much adventure.
We thought we planned as well as we could, but right off the hop leaving Tapachula we got caught up in a massive police blockade. Hundreds of police with riot shields and batons were trying to stop a crowd of migrants from marching north out of the city. As we arrived on the traffic-jammed scene, the police blockade had just been overrun by the crowd of 2,000 migrants and the overwhelmed police were in foot retreat past our car.
Advancing through the retreating lines of shielded police we were never exposed to any worrisome action, but the road delay was more than 2 hours. As we finally made our way through on the highway we passed rag-tag crowds of impoverished migrants, walking on foot with a 2500 mile journey ahead of them. In the days since we have read news articles as they continue their slow, arduous journey. The crowd has now swelled to 4,000 as word has gotten out and other migrants also stuck in the area have found a way to join the movement. In our air-conditioned car and our secure financial condition of retirement we marvel at the sight of these intrepid traveling refugees; all the while feeling the guilt of our own ease.
We stayed 2 nights in the small town of Chiapa de Corzo.
The key attraction is the Canon del Sumidero river trip.
A spider monkey.
Three nights in San Christobal (accompanied by a couple of days of “traveler’s gut”) were followed by our arriving to a flat tire on our parked car. Our hotel bellhop called for a mechanico and they in turn brought us to a “taller pneumatico” to repair the tire. Our bellhop kissed the 100 peso tip he received for his efforts; the mechanico insisted he was owed nada but we insisted he was also owed 100; the pneumatico in his grim little shop asked for 50 and we paid 100, producing another smile. A grand total of $15 USD the poorer we were happy to be off at last on a long detour route towards Palenque, the site of famous Mayan jungle ruins.
The shorter route from San Christobal to Palenque is straight north on a curvy road through the mountains, but it has a reputation for frequent protest road-blocks and there were also stories about road-side robbers. Our efforts to confirm or deny the present currency of these hazards came to no conclusion, so we reluctantly set off on a much longer but apparently safer drive through the State of Tabasco. Having gotten away late with our flat tire and following a rule to not drive country roads at night, we overnighted in the forgettable city of Villahermosa.
Palenque is a World Heritage site and pictures do a better job of describing Maya ruins than words. Archaeological digs and restorations are expensive, so while the visible ruins are impressive indeed, only 2% of the area has been exposed. The rest remains covered in jungle. Walking on paths through the forested terrain there are ancient overgrown stones and structures everywhere.
Where there are mountains there are also waterfalls.
Next up, the second half of our circle trip.
